Mr. Prabash Wanigatunge appointed as a member of the SEC- CSE Joint Committees on Central Counter Party System (CCP) and New Products

Mr. Prabash Wanigatunge was appointed as a member to the SEC- CSE Joint Committees on digitalization – end to end operations of the stock market, establishment of a central counter party system (CCP), enhancing education & awareness among the general public, taskforce for better regulation – to prevent the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the stock market and the introduction of new products to the stock market by the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC). These Committees were entrusted to bring in state of the art infrastructure to the market, create new investment avenues by developing new products and to raise awareness & education levels among the public about stock market investing.

He is an industry professional with over 30 years of experience in the Capital Market and is a business transformation leader with a proven track record in formulating & implementing of policies & strategies both in regulatory & in front line regulation. He has worked extensively in the stock market spectrum with emphasis on development of stock market infrastructure, enhancing good governance practices and improvement of the stakeholder confidence in the local stock market.

Mr.Wanigatunge earned his Phd from the University of Honalulu – USA and obtained his Masters from the University of Bedfordshire in the field of Marketing. He acquired his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Cambodia in Business Administration specialising in Management, holds Post Graduate diploma’s in the field of management from the Post Graduate Institute of Management -University of Sri Jayawardenapura and marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing- UK. Mr.Wanigatunge is a member of several professional bodies. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Financial Management, Chartered Market Analyst of the American Academy of Financial Management, Fellow of the Institute of Management Specialists – UK, Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia, Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing – UK and a Chartered Marketer of the Chartered Institute of Marketing – UK. Currently he is reading for his postgraduate diploma in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.

Apartment from his academic and professional career, he excelled in many extra-curricular activities including Ballroom Dancing where he currently holds the highest ranking in Sri Lanka. He is an Associate of the Dance Teachers Association of UK. He has represented Sri Lanka in international arena in Ballroom and Exhibition Dancing. For the contribution made by him, he has been bestowed with many accolades.

His career started at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). He was fortunate enough to become the first management trainee at the CSE. He held several positions at the CSE in core areas such as Trading, Surveillance & Enforcement, Central Depository Systems, Marketing and Public Relations. He was the first Branch Manager at the CSE. He then moved to DPMC Financial services and later moved to Lanka Securities (private) Ltd where he held several managerial positions in those companies. Prior to joining the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), he served as the Executive Vice President Head of Brokerage and Strategic Planning of Serendib Stock Brokers where he was assigned by Arif Habib Group Financial Services and later served as the Deputy Chief Executive officer- Business Development at SMB securities (Pvt) Ltd.

Upon joining the SEC as the Director Surveillance, he was entrusted with several other portfolios as well including Acting Director Supervision and Acting Director Capital Market Development. Currently he holds the portfolios of Director Surveillance and Acting Director Capital Market Development. He was appointed by the Chairman of SEC, to several SEC- CSE Joint Committees where such Committees played a key role in transforming and digitalizing the end-to-end operations of the stock market, commissioning of the delivery vs payment mechanism at the CSE, enhancing awareness and education levels of the stock market participants and spear headed the taskforce established during the Covid 19 pandemic under the direction of Director General to ensure smooth functioning of the stock market during and aftermath of the Covid pandemic. Many reforms were made by the taskforce and out of which the introduction of a three-tiered circuit breaker to the S&P SL 20 index was one of the key outcomes that ensured a sustainable stock market during high volatile period, which kept the systemic risk at bay.

The surveillance division under his direction carries out proactive and pre-emptive enforcement actions, which plays a pivotal role in ensuring a fair an orderly stock market. Currently he heads the SEC Capital Market Development portfolio as well. He is entrusted with nurturing the local stock market via formulation of policies and strategies for the stock market, development initiatives and coordinating with Multilateral and Bi-lateral developments partners of Sri Lanka such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in ensuring necessary assistance is obtained for such market development initiatives. His multidisciplinary skills together with in-depth knowledge of the capital market has been a value addition to the local stock market.